Abraham's Daughter
by Bellum Gerere
Summary: Prequel to "Breaking The Habit." Follows Four, Eric, and Christian through their initation.


_So, you guys were probably expecting more updates, but I took an AP test Friday, then got sick yesterday. I still kind of feel like crap, but I didn't want to leave you with nothing when I'd promised you something. So here is chapter one of the prequel. It's not much. But it's something. And as for Insurgent…I am extremely upset. That is all._

_-A.l.y._

**Abraham's Daughter**

**Chapter One: Choosing**

**Tobias Eaton**

I've been looking forward to this day for as long as I can remember. Choosing Day, when I can finally leave the hidden hell that is Abnegation for the relative safety of another faction. It doesn't even matter which one. I don't care. Anywhere has got to be better than staying here with Marcus.

I know that not referring to him as Father is a huge sign of disrespect, something he doesn't tolerate. But he stopped being my father a long time ago, after grief and loneliness got the best of him. As a result, I am afflicted with claustrophobia and extreme paranoia when it comes to authority figures.

He doesn't really comprehend the depth of my hatred for him. I'm sure he thinks I am just a disobedient teenager, one who needs to be punished "for his own good." Right. At least if it's given me anything at all to be grateful for, it's my finely honed sense of danger. I know when to keep pushing, and I know when to run.

This morning, all my internal alarms are going off. I set a plate of food in front of Marcus-it is my turn to cook this morning-and watch carefully as I sit down across from him. If there is ever a time he had to pretend to be civil, this is it. He doesn't know it, but this will be the last breakfast we have together.

"So." He clears his throat awkwardly, reaches for a fork and knife. "Today is you Choosing Day."

I nod stiffly, not in the mood for conversation. He either doesn't get the hint or chooses to ignore it. "I'll be seeing you later tonight, of course. _Back in Abnegation_ remains unspoken. Again, I leave him without a response.

He doesn't know my plan to switch to Dauntless. I won't tell him. In my room, in plain sight, is a blue glass sculpture my mother smuggled me years ago. I hope he sees it, and knows what it means, what he made me do.

~oOo~

By the time we reach the room where the Choosing Ceremony will take place, my feet ache from climbing twenty flights of stairs. They line us up in alphabetical order, but we are called backwards, so I will be almost last. When my name is called, I will go up to the Erudite representative, cut my hand, and let my blood fall on the sizzling coals that represent Dauntless. I don't care what Marcus thinks. I will finally be free of him for good.

At the podium stands Erudite's only government representative, Jeanine Matthews. On any other year she wouldn't bother with this-she is too important-but this year is different. Her son is sixteen. No doubt he will return to the faction he came from. I look down the line and see several Erudite boys, but I have no way of telling which one is him.

Jeanine gives a speech about the factions, but I am too nervous to listen. Instead, when names are called, I look to see who joins the Dauntless. A dark-haired Erudite girl, a Candor boy, a Dauntless-born girl whose hair is dyed a shocking red. None of them look nervous, but the Erudite is staring down someone in line, her eyes narrowed. I only manage to tear my gaze away when I hear the next name:

"Eric Matthews."

Judging by the whispers that begin immediately from the Erudite, he is what they've been waiting for. I watch him as he walks up to Jeanine: tall, pale, dark hair parted to the side that falls, for the most part, just below his jaw. He doesn't look nervous at all as he drags the knife across his palm. He holds his hand out, and his blood drips onto the Dauntless coals.

The whispering stops abruptly and then begins again, louder than before. I have the feeling that the same thing will happen when I choose. It seems like half a second has passed before my name is called. I walk up to Jeanine, hoping that my shaking hands aren't too noticeable, and slide the knife across my hand. I imitate Eric Matthews, letting my blood fall onto the coals, and hear identical sounds of shock, this time from the Abnegation. I do not look at them, but I feel Marcus's stare burning a hole in my back.

There are only three people after me. The only time I have ever seen any emotion on Jeanine's face is when she looks up at the last girl, an Amity who stares defiantly back.

"A…" Jeanine sounds totally unsure as to what to say. "Abraham's daughter."

I watch her walk up to the bowls. She wears a yellow dress and sweater, her light brown hair tied loosely in a knot. She is the only Amity this year-the only Amity ever, probably-to switch to Dauntless.


End file.
